Reminds me of you
by Sigh Paul
Summary: Will and Nico Solace-diAngelo are your average american-italian married couple, Will is a talented doctor and Nico is a soon to be architect, everything seems perfect until one day Nico is victim of a car accident that leaves him with a problem further than any broken bone. (Real world AU)
1. Prologue

"Do you, Nico Emilio DiAngelo, accept William Christopher Solace as your legitimate spouse, to love and respect until death does you apart?"

Nico smiled, "Yes, I do." He had never been so sure about agreeing to something more than he did right now.

The priest continued, "And do you, William Christopher Solace, accept Nico Emilio DiAngelo as your legitimate spouse, to love and respect until death does you apart?"

Will smiled and looked into Nico's eyes, "I do."

"For the power God has put in me, I declare you husbands. You may kiss the groom." The priest smiled as well and Will cupped Nico's cheeks and kissed him. People cheered and the newlyweds wrapped their arms around each other.

"I love you, Nico." Will whispered into Nico's ear, who blushed and rested his head on his husband's shoulder.

"I love you too, Will."


	2. Chapter 1

"_Doctor Will?" _Said the voice on the other side of the line, Will recognized the secretary of the emergency room in the Asclepius hospital.

"Yes, hi, Sally, is anything wrong?" It was his free day today and he was sitting on the couch in the living room in his pajamas, only accompanied by the blanket that was wrapped around him and the TV where he was watching some action movie he'd rented yesterday.

"_It's Mr. Nico, doctor…" _Will's heartbeat picked up a faster pace; he didn't want to start to image what would be reason for this call. "_He… was injured in a car accident some minutes ago, he's being rushed to the hospital right now and we thought you'd want to be here." _

_"_I'll be there in a second." And saying so he was out of his house before his very eyes and driving as fast as he could to the hospital. He became anxious as he parked his car and his breathing reflected just how nervous he felt.

He ran from the parking lot to the emergency room, finding Sally in front of her computer, looking around nervously. "Sally," Will said, short in breath.

"Oh my god doctor here you are," Sally pointed to the big doors that directed to where the emergency patients were treated "Mr. Nico arrived with the paramedics a few moments ago." Will thanked Sally and went to retrieve his robe.

Once inside the actual emergency room it wasn't hard to find Nico, he was surrounded by at least six other doctors. "Can I get the report on the patient?" Will said, trying to get his voice to stay firm. He was filled in by one of his mates, Lee Fletcher.

Apparently Nico had been crashed by someone drunken driving, the ambulance and the police were called shortly after it happened so Nico was taken to the hospital meanwhile the other driver was taken to the police station.

Will's heart broke when he saw his Nico in that hospital bed, looking so hurt and defenseless. Soon after examining him they discovered a broken arm, two broken ribs and a bad hit on the head. "Surgery will be needed for him, get the surgery room ready, we're moving." Said Will, the bed was pulled to the surgery room and as Will was to follow, Lee pulled him behind.

"Will, where are you going? You know you can't go in there." Lee's tone was final; Will knew that he was right.

But he didn't care, "Lee, please let me go in there," the pleading in his voice made it crack at the end, "Please, I love him so much, I can't let anything happen to him." His eyes stung, he couldn't cry now.

"You can't treat any kind of relative, and husbands are included in that rule." Will cursed and pleaded to be let in and do something for his beloved Nico, but it was just denied by Lee, who excused himself to take part of the surgery, but before he put his arms around a now crying Will and assured nothing bad would happen to his spouse, he then left, leaving Will to cry silently by his own surrounded by the separating curtains.

Seconds turned into minutes, which turned into hours, Will was impatient for the doctors that were inside to come out and tell him everything would be alright, he felt useless not being able to be inside there and help, worry was eating him inside.

After four hours that felt like four years, the bed on which Nico was laying pulled out of the surgery room, Lee motioned a sobbing Will to follow them, who got up and walked with them.

Nico was assigned a room to stay in and after telling him the surgeries had been successful the doctors embraced Will and each gave him an encouraging pat in the back, this he appreciated and was grateful for, he was kind of relieved that the surgery had no complications.

All of the doctors left but Lee, who said would stay since he was the assigned doctor to Nico. The other room's bed was empty so it was just they three in the room.

Will's expression must've been really obvious because Lee spoke up to tell him everything would be alright, "He'll be alright, there was no fatal injury, so please don't be worried."

"What about the hit on his head?" He remembered everything he was told down there in the emergency room, Nico's head was bandaged as well.

Lee looked around and sighed, "I… don't know, you know how unpredictable a hit on the head can be, he doesn't have any kind of internal bleeding but we don't know about a concussion, since he's out we can't check for one." Will wanted to wrap his arms around his love; to believe everything would all right, but there was a chance it wouldn't be.

"I think I'd better leave you alone with him, yeah?" Will nodded and tried to smile at Lee, thought it looked like a pained grimace.

When they were left alone, Will took Nico's hand and started crying silently, he didn't know why but he felt guilty that he was unconscious in this hospital bed just out of surgery. That made no sense at all, but making sense wasn't his main worry at the moment.

Will was given a job break due to the condition of Nico, so he could stay take care of him, at least for the week, which was the length of the break. Days passed and it was all the same, Will hands holding his husband's, the room being cold and silent, it was sort of sorrow inducing, like Will needed any more. Lee came by often to check on both, though who he was most worried about was Will, he hadn't been eating much lately and he refused to move from Nico's side, saying that he could wake up any time and he had to be there for when it happened.

Every second weighed on Will's shoulder and days passed like rocks that were put upon him, the pale boy on the bed had a pained expression, he had IV needles in both his arms and the dropping liquid maintained him stable enough. Being here with only his mind to talk to, Will started to remember every moment he had with the younger boy, like the day they met when they were just worry-less in their early 20's, those were good times, he felt, everything was easier. Then when they first started dating, winning Nico over was and still is one of Will's biggest achievements. Will smiled faintly at the memory.

There were so many episodes replaying in his head like a movie, some happy, others were sad, but all of them were treasured by Will, every moment with Nico, good or bad, was worth gold.

He'd always questioned himself about the phrase '_I love you so much it hurts'_ but now he felt it, he loved the boy in that bed so much it hurt him to hold him and not feel him there, the solitude wrapped itself around him as a straitjacket hugging him forcefully.

When the fifth day greeted Will with the faint light of dawn, he could feel Nico moving slightly in his bed, his heart skipped a beat and he wanted to throw himself at him, but he couldn't do that, he had to let him wake up on his own.

About an hour passed until the black haired boy's voice was heard in a low groan, "Mom, why did you leave the curtains open again?" _Mom?_ Thought Will, if he didn't recall wrong, Maria di Angelo had passed away several years ago due to the same illness that took Nico's sister, Bianca.

The pale boy's eyes opened and stared at Will, those dark eyes that were often hard to read, were now clearly showing confusion.

"Nico?" Will's voice sounded worried, but not as worried as he really felt.

_Please, God, don't let it be._

_Please._

_Don't let it be._

"Excuse me, sir," The disconcerted boy asked Will, "but who are you?" Will's eyes started to water.

It was.


	3. Chapter 2

"Excuse me, sir," The disconcerted boy asked Will, "but who are you?" Will's eyes started to water.

Will's stomach was tied in knots and he couldn't find his voice in all his shock, warm trails of sadness ran down his cheeks, slowly, as he stared at the black haired boy, whose eyes showed utter confusion.

"Sir?" Said the younger boy directing himself to Will, expecting an answer, "Where am I? What… happened? Who are you?" That last question made the blonde's heart shatter, panic made his chest tighten and his ears buzzed.

_This isn't happening_, he thought, and repeated it to himself, over and over, then closed his eyes and sobbed silently.

Nico asked him what was wrong, but he was too busy crying over his misery to answer, so the now worried boy just laid there and stared at the crying boy by his side.

The blonde excused himself and walked out of the room because the room had started to suffocate him, his brain could only process some of what was going on, thus he remained with the hope he'd overslept and that this was just a horrible dream.

But if he believed that, he'd be making a fool of himself, this was way too real not to be, as real as the tears in his face, as real as the disconcerted boy in the room Will had just exited.

Will cursed and sat against a wall, he didn't care that people passing by stared, he didn't care about anything that wasn't Nico at the moment, so the wandering eyes of the questioning passerby's didn't hold much importance.

That was until Lee found him sitting on the floor in the middle of the hallway, hugging his knees and sobbing silently, he sat next to his friend and put an arm around him, whatever that was troubling him was definitely big and he was almost sure it had something to do with Nico.

"He doesn't remember." Said Will, trying not to be choked by his woe, Lee just squeezed his shoulder and told him it'd be alright, amnesia post cerebral trauma was common and in most of the cases it lasted very little time.

Will tried to calm down but his mind kept building the worst-case scenarios, "There are people… who never remember though" His voice thin as a string.

"I know." Lee simply stated which made Will put his face on his knees and as if there was still the possibility of his world crumbling down around him without him being able to do anything.

When Lee noticed the magnitude of what he'd said, he quickly added that it was very rare to never regain your memories, but it was too late to try to make the crying boy feel better.

"What am I supposed to do now?" He was interrupted by his own sobs, this was nothing you learned in medicine school.

You can learn how to stitch a wound, how to know which pill to prescribe, you learned to perform a surgery, but they never taught you what to do when the person you love the most loses their memory and doesn't know who you are, then there's no stitches, or pills, or surgeries that can help, so there's nothing you can do in a situation like this.

He decided to stop weeping and do something, so he got up and went fetch a doctor robe to use.

Back in Nico's room, he noticed that the black haired boy was fast asleep once again, and he couldn't help but sit next to him and admire his delicate face. He was in his late twenties but he still kept some boyish features that made him look even more attractive.

He looked at his hair, which was short now, he'd gotten him to change his hairstyle back when they were 25, he remembered, it was just on his birthday.

_"Happy, happy birthday to you!" Sang the blond before putting the breakfast on the birthday boy's legs, who smiled and rubbed his eyes due to being awoken._

_"You shouldn't have," Said Nico, smiling, and looking at Will with soft eyes. _

_"And we are here with the birthday babe!" Will said, mocking a news reporter voice, "Tell us, how does it feel to turn twenty f-i-v-e?" He took a hairbrush in the nightstand next to the bed and used it as a fake microphone. _

_"Well it feels like wow, but it also feels like there's a freaky reporter in my bed whose hair is very messy, but I gotta admit he looks kinda cute." Nico said grinning._

_"Kinda? Only kinda?" Will said faking surprise, "Well this reporter you got here is in fact the hottest man in town, you wish you could get a piece of this hot body." He wiggled his eyebrows, which made the still sleepy boy chuckle. _

_"No thank you, not hot enough for me, plus not my type, to be honest." He winked and started eating the breakfast his husband had put over him. _

_Will laughed sarcastically and added something about him being able to be the Hottie McHottie of the year if he wanted, Nico just nodded and took his man's hand in his own._

_"Wait, talking about messy hair, what do you think about getting a 'Hey, it's my birthday so I'll get a new hairstyle' thing, I think it'd be awesome." The blond always tried to get the black haired boy to get his hair cut in a different style but the latter always refused and told him off, but today he hesitated his direct no._

_He looked at himself in the closet doors' mirrors, his hair was all around in a huge mess, it looked shaggy, he had to admit, and now that he was in his mid-twenties he thought it wouldn't really hurt to get a more mature haircut, he wasn't a 16 year old anymore. _

_Sighing, Nico agreed to being taken to getting his hair worked on, which earned one, too joyful, 'yay!' from Will. _

_"You're going to look 200% hotter baby, I swear when you get your hair done you'll look so hot I won't be able to resist humping you right there." A mischievous grin drew itself on the blonde's full lips; Nico groaned and rolled his eyes thought he was honestly amused._

Will traced a finger down the sleeping boy's cheek, looking at his closed eyes with their long eyelashes, his little nose and his slightly parted lips. His finger went all the way down to his chin, where he found a little scar from the time he broke it a month before their wedding.

_Nico was laying down in the hospital bed having just had his chin stitched, he'd tripped while running from classroom to classroom and hit his chin on some rock, he felt honestly the dumbest person ever, whoever had his luck and was as clumsy as he was. _

_Will entered the room running, "Baby!" After his worried exclamation he launched himself at his fiancé, "Shit, baby, I was so scared when they called me saying you'd had an accident, what happened?" Will talked way too fast, his tone worried and his blue eyes looking at him expecting an answer. _

_"Well, I was running from class to class because otherwise I would've been late, and I tripped and yeah, hit my chin, got stitched and stuff." Saying so he looked into the blonde's eyes, he could barely speak, the anesthesia made his face feel numb and he couldn't feel parts of it moving when he did, he obviously sounded funny. _

_And Will just started laughing, "I was so scared but now I'm so relieved, should've remembered you're the biggest klutz ever, plus you're talking like you're high." Nico's face turned angry and he hit Will's head, not hard at all since he was tired and his head was buzzing, the anesthesia couldn't dull his headache. _

_"Asshole." He mumbled so silent he wasn't sure whether Will had heard him or not, but he didn't really care since he was sleeping in no time._

Will stood up and started walking to the cafeteria to get some coffee, but he was stopped by a silent voice, "Hey, um, doctor?" He turned around to find his husband awake and looking at him questioningly. He wanted to take him in his arms but he couldn't do it, he obviously still didn't recover from his amnesia, god forbid it not to be short term, which stung at Will's heart like burning needles.

"Yes, hello Nico, I'm Dr. Will." He tried to smile but he felt tears threatening to fall instead, he had to be strong, he couldn't just start crying out of the blue in front of someone who didn't remember him, it would really leave the black haired boy seriously creeped out. He tried to smile again and this time he was content with the result.

Nico smiled back faintly, "Doctor, what happened to me? Why am I here?" his voice was weak and cracked at the end, the serious expression in Will's face faltered.

"You were in a car accident, your car was crashed and you received the most of the damage, there was surgery performed on you, but now that you're recovering at a favorable pace, I can freely say you'll be as good as new in no time." _Not counting your memory_, the blonde thought. Nico's facial expressions change thorough the process of acknowledging and understanding what he'd just been told.

"Excuse me, doctor, but I don't drive…" Will flinched out of surprise and assured him that he, in fact, did drive.

"I'm completely sure I don't, I was just going to learn after my birthday this year." The boy shrugged and stared into Will's blue eyes, who just furrowed his brows.

"How old do you say you are?" _Please don't get this wrong, please don't tell me this is exactly what I think it is, prove me wrong, just this time_, Will's mind raced with his pleas, he just wanted his love to be able to be alright, he wasn't sure he could bear this if it was what he imagined, he'd already received one sucker punch from life, he didn't think he could take another in such a short time.

_Please say 27, please say 27, please say you're 27 and you're turning 28_.

He'd learned about these cases in medicine school, he also knew there was nothing he could do, only hope for the very best, and pray that whoever can help shows mercy and intercedes between the struggling person and a terrible fate.

_Please, don't say anything else, I love you so much, I can't take this._

"If I'm not wrong, I'm close to turning 21." Nico said after his quick session of arithmetic.

Will never thought he'd hate a number more than he did this one, it was the number that'd come across him and the person he adored the most.

21, twenty-one, two times ten plus one.

If you take a calculator and try to equal 21 to 27 it will show you an error message, because there's a gap of 6 units in-between, 6 units, 6 years, you can't fill them with medicines, not with pills, not with IV's.

You can expect the gap to close, but you can also be realistic and realize that there's a possibility of 1 in 60 that something of the like will happen, they teach you this all in medicine school.

And in that time you're sure that the situation is screwed, as much as you.

When a person loses their memory, there's cases where people forget random past events, others lose complete years of memories, and within the latter, there's people who go back years of existence and remember only before of all what was lost.

And this was what happened to Nico.

Will's toes curled, and he bit his lip to stop himself from crying.

His nails dug into his palms.

"Yes, 21." Said the boy reassured.

"Oh, what a beautiful age to be." He excused himself and left the room.


	4. Chapter 3

His hands helped rinse off the shampoo left on his hair, then he continued to exit the shower and dry himself, he was feeling considerably calmer.

After his talk with Nico, Will had rushed home without thinking much, he just felt like he needed to go home as fast as he could. When he reached his destination, he opted for a hot shower to calm down, and that's what he'd done.

If he only could wash his problems away like they were soap, life would be easier, there wouldn't be any need to feel hurt or sad. He dried himself and put some comfortable clothes on, his head was spinning slightly and he noticed his eyes were bloodshot from crying, he felt so weak and vulnerable and impotent.

He laid down in bed and his mind raced everywhere, making his head hurt and throb, the image of Nico in that hospital bed with no memory of him,

of _them_.

He rubbed his temples and tried to stop what he'd just lived from replaying in his head like a broken record, sleep didn't sound like a bad idea all of the sudden, he'd be able to be away from all this mess for at least a couple hours.

He kept shifting, he couldn't find a comfortable position, and his mind refused to shut down, there was no point on trying further, so he just got up and walked to the kitchen.

The kitchen's clock read _4:38_, he sighed and decided to make himself some tea, he was sure he could use the rest.

The tea would be ready in about five minutes, so he sat and waited.

_4:38_

He felt so alone, lonely, he couldn't help but feel like the only company he had were the leaves falling at the other side of the window, or the coldness that surrounded him and made him shiver.

_4:39_

Pessimistic thoughts weighted as much as one hundred sleepless nights, the cravings to go back to when everything was good scalded everywhere they touched, and it hurt to be the one left to remember.

_4:40_

Tears fill eyes as when sorrows flood minds, everything drowns in the way of the woe.

_4:41_

When you want to claw your eyes out it's perhaps because the reality is too hard to face and you'd just feel more comfortable making a detour to your own mind accompanied by no one who can make you feel pain.

_4:42_

When you stare at sadness in the eye, it stares right back at you; thoughts consume a soul the way time makes a flower wither.

Hearing his own thoughts whispering wasn't the nicest thing to do, he poured some tea into a cup and sat again. He sipped his tea and closed his eyes, his head was still throbbing and his eyes hurt too.

He was a complete mess with a cup of tea. The tea was too hot and it scorched his tongue but he didn't care, he wanted to feel something not to believe this wasn't really happening. Lee had told him he was just being pessimistic by thinking Nico's memory wasn't coming back, but he knew he wasn't being pessimistic, he was just being realistic, and every bone and fiber of his being screamed of loss and that's what affected him the most.

The clock showed the time, the time went on anyways, no matter what problem there could be, it just goes on, time doesn't ask, time doesn't care, it flows and stretches your worries and woes.

He'd felt sadness, happiness, anger, frustration, but he was sure nothing could compare to the feeling of being empty due to missing something he couldn't be sure would ever be back. He'd never felt so fragile, all this time he'd had Nico by his side he'd felt strong and confident, he felt loved and he could love as much, he never noticed just how dependent he'd became, how addicted he was to the other boy.

The tea was cold by now so he drank all what was left and left the cup in the sink. He wanted to find someone to blame but there was no one, maybe himself for needing him so much, maybe the other driver for crashing Nico's car, maybe, maybe, maybe nothing.

He remembered first meeting the raven-haired boy; it'd been spring, he could clearly recall the way the air smelled, rain and plants, the perfume of every growing flower painted the soft breeze, it'd been a beautiful day.

_He walked leisurely through the sidewalk, cars went by and people walked fast all around him, he had nothing to rush for thought, this day off he deserved._

_He'd woken up at 10 a.m. unlike any other day lately, college had been so stressful these days and the last thing he needed was some kind of panic attack due to stress. It'd gotten to the point where he'd wanted to drop out and just shrug forever instead of feeling the incessant pressure. But he'd gotten over it and decided to take the day off today, there were no tests to give, nothing important to learn, it was his day to feel like he could still be at ease with life._

_The new café down the street of his apartment had opened and since he was a friend of the owner, he'd promised her he'd come when he first had time, and so, he would stay true to his promise, plus he felt like he could use the "chill" ambient his friend had promised._

_Standing in front of it, he could see just how nice the place looked, if his schedule did get lighter, he'd be seriously considering dropping by often. The big sign above the glass doors read "Delphi Café"._

_Lame, he thought, his friend had thought it'd be a cute name to give the place but he thought otherwise, but in the end his recurrent head shake and eye roll hadn't worked much convincement._

_He walked in and saw her in the cash machine; he walked towards her and asked her for a quick cappuccino, she hadn't looked up at him until it was time to tell him the price of his coffee. She smiled at him and greeted him, her hand reaching his hair and patting it, she told him to come at her side of the counter, so he did._

_They hugged briefly and she asked for his opinion on the place._

_"Well, what can I say? You did a marvelous job with the place, I'm in love with the mood and the music and all." He really was, the place looked like the perfect place to be in any rainy day, along with a book, he was glad it was so close to his apartment._

_"Excuse me, order going out," A soft voice said behind him, he stepped aside to make space to they could pass through. It was a boy, a black haired boy with a tray in which three cups of coffee stood, he only realized he'd been staring at said boy for longer than normal when Rachel's hand shook his shoulder and asked him if he was all right._

_He nodded and said that in fact, he was, but that he had a question._

_"Ask away," She said and moved back to the cash machine when a client walked in to buy something, he waited until the sale was done to speak up._

_He asked about the boy that'd just walked by, he could still see him walk around taking orders all over the place, he couldn't not notice how cute he was._

_"His name is Nico and he's a friend of mine, yes you can get to know him and all that, but not right now, this is a serious establishment and we need to work." He smiled and told her he'd leave her alone to work, that they'd talk later, she nodded and he walked to the last sofa left, there were some magazines to read but he'd brought a book of his own._

_The boy, Nico, approached him and asked him if he'd already ordered something, he could appreciate the waiter's features closely now._

_His eyes were really dark, which contrasted with his pale skin, his nose was little, a cute little, and his lips were so pink and pretty, his hair was sort of messy and as he'd pointed out before, it was black, or really dark brown, thought it did look black._

_"Oh, yes I did, do ask Rachel for my order, please." The waiter nodded and walked back to where Rachel was. He was so cute, he wanted to walk up to him and hug him, he was just adorable._

_In no time the boy was back with a tray in which were a mug and a piece of cheesecake._

_"Here's your order, the cheesecake is on the house." He smiled at Will and put both things on the table the closest to him, Will smiled back at him and thanked the boy._

_Being concentrated in the marvelous book he was currently reading, he hadn't noticed the hours go by faster than ever, so when he noticed his surroundings, he found himself almost alone in the place. Nico was cleaning some tables and Rachel was counting the money._

_The blonde got up and walked towards the boy cleaning the table, combing his hair with his hands, hoping it hadn't messed up through the afternoon._

_"Hey," Greeted Will, smiling, the other boy looked up at him and smiled back, letting out a silent 'Hey'. _

_Will introduced himself, his eyes never leaving the other boy's, in a different occasion he'd try to not be too intense, but right now he couldn't bring himself to care about that. _

_"Nico, Nico DiAngelo," The wind outside made the trees shake, but inside the café they had a fireplace which kept it warm inside, it was one of those days which Will thought were perfect for cuddling. _

_"You Italian?" Will gazed at Nico with complete curiosity. _

_"Yeah, born in Pisa, raised here." That explains the lack of accent, thought Will. _

_And they conversed, about life, college, books, music, Will was astounded about he and the boy were, still talking to him was a complete pleasure. _

_"Post-Hardcore," Said Nico when asked which music genre he liked the most, Will wasn't sure he'd heard something of this genre before, so he just nodded and smiled, hoping not to come up as ignorant. _

_"William I should've closed this place like two hours ago, I don't care if your conversation is interesting, I want to go home." Rachel stared at Will and gestured him to hurry, he wanted to stab the girl for breaking the talk between him and the boy in front of him. _

_"Rachel's right, but let's keep in touch, ok?" The boy standing up offered Will a warm smile, which did more to warm him up than the fireplace. _

_They traded numbers and promised to go out soon for a talk, Will just hoped soon didn't get stuck in traffic. _

Memories _are_ bitches, Will had concluded after a while, a sudden rush of anger course through his body and made him want to break something, he needed to relieve some pain in some way, there was so much inside of him he hadn't noticed was here before, but he could feel it now, weighting him down like a big boulder on his hands.

He screamed like a madman and pulled his hair, kicked the floor and punched the walls, he was sure he was acting like a toddler but at this point there were really no fucks to be given by him.

When he finally felt drained from screaming and crying, he walked towards the bedroom and threw himself on the bed, and he was suddenly exhausted, it wasn't later than 5:30 but he just felt the need to sleep and cease to exist for at least a little bit of time. So he decided to nap.

His eyes closed and he started dreaming, remembering, how after their first date Nico's mother and sister passed away due to tuberculosis, they both thought it was a normal flu and the infection was faster than their worry so they realized what it was too late.

_He was sitting in the pizza parlor, waiting for his date to come, the waitress asked him if he was ready to order a few times but he politely asked her to wait him a couple minutes more because he was expecting someone._

_She waited and so did he, she was giving him glances that obviously told him that he'd been ditched, he asked for a Sprite._

_He finished the bottle and kept waiting, he couldn't believe he had really been ditched; it'd been an hour and a bit more since Nico was supposed to be here, he sighed and his phone vibrated in his pocket._

_It was a text from Nico. His heart fluttered and he unlocked his phone._

_Can't go, so sorry, I didn't ditch you, something big just came up, it said._

_Shit, Will said._

_His day had been degraded from bright, nice and happy to completely shitty. He started to worry about what this 'something big' was._

_What if something happened to him? His stomach churned and he wanted to run to wherever he was and help however he could._

_He texted back asking what'd happened and that he was worried, but the answer came later than the personal pizza the waitress set in front of him._

_"It's on the house, I'm sure your date had something important to do, I mean, I wouldn't have ditched you in a million years." She said, Will smiled gladly and thanked the girl, who winked and walked to take the order of another table._

_He ate and left a ten bucks note in the table, even though the pizza had been on the house, he had to pay for the Sprite he drank. Obviously, the Sprite wasn't that expensive, so he just left the change as a tip. _

_He decided to walk home to clear his head, but his phone buzzed in his pocket._

_My mom and sister just passed away. The text made Will's heart stop, where are you, he texted asking, I'm so sorry. _

_He didn't get an answer and he was freaking out, he hadn't known the boy for longer than three weeks but he felt the need to comfort him. _

_"Rachel?" The voice on the other side confirmed it was her who he was talking to, "I need you to help me with an address." _

_"Which?" He could hear the people talking in the background, which melted away with the soft music playing. _

"_Nico's." _

_There was silence until she spoke, "I can't do that, this information is supposed to stay anonymous and protected by me." He became angry. _

_"I know but something happened and I need to see him, fuck!" He didn't realise he was yelling until he noticed passerbys staring at him, "Shit, Rachel, please." His voice was pleading what he needed._

_There was silence again, but after it she agreed to give him the address._

_In no time he was there and ringing the doorbell. _

_The door opened with a forceful thud, Nico appeared in the other side of the door. His eyes were bloodshot and wet, his sobs were unmissable and his look was menacing._

_Will stood in shock, he didn't know what to do, he was frozen. _

_"Leave please." Nico said, his voice was thin as a string. _

_"But-" Will tried to tell him he was there to comfort him, but Nico was faster, yelling the same he'd whispered before and closing the door on his face._

_He was confused, and not at the same time, he understood his decision not to want to be with him at the time so he decided to leave._

_He'd text him in the morning. _

He woke up and the room was lit by the outside world, he stood up and looked at it through the window. The sky was so dark, contrasting with all the lights of the city being alive, the cars traveling through the streets like blood in veins.

His phone rang, he walked towards it to see who it was. Lee's name showed in the caller ID.

"Hey," Greeted Will.

"Will, you need to get yourself here right now," His voice seemed agitated.

"Why? Is everything ok?" Paranoia started to build inside of him.

"No, I mean I don't even know, he's asking for his mom and sister and I don't know what to do."


	5. Chapter 4

It was a couple minutes past 11 at night, the corridors of the hospital were almost empty, the casual nurse walked by and greeted him.

He stood in front of the room numbered one hundred and thirty three, his breathing was heavy, his chest felt like it was filled with rocks.

He heard Lee's voice saying that it was a matter he couldn't talk about, that he'd had to wait for Will's arrival. His hands were sweating, even though it was freezing, he was shivering, he wasn't sure if it was due to the cold weather or the nervousness though.

He placed his hand on the doorknob and slowly opened it, letting himself inside, Lee said good night to Nico and started to leave, before reaching the door, he stopped next to Will and whispered in his ear something about having luck and that he'd be downstairs in the cafeteria if he was needed.

"Doctor." Said Nico expectantly, Will's throat constricted after hearing the voice, he couldn't prepare himself to talk about this, how was he even supposed to explain it all? It would be like one blow after another.

"How are you feeling, Nico?" He tried to keep himself composed and act normal but the incessant desire inside of him to run away and hide from confrontation was pulsating harder than his heart.

"I'm feeling fine, but, doctor," He saw the boy take a deep breathe and stare at him right in the eye with his eyes so dark, "you and I have to talk, apparently." Will nodded and sat on the chair meant for visitors.

Alright, muttered Will, he was shivering still, he felt cold all over, he wanted to reach up to his husband and wrap his arms around him.

"Where are my mom and my sister?" Nico asked slowly, Will tried to find the best way to tell him they were dead since a couple of years ago, but said best way didn't exist. He decided to just try and summarize the situation.

He sighed and started.

"Before I can answer that, you need to know what's going on. But you need to promise me that you'll try to stay as calm as possible, this isn't an easy subject, so please just promise me you'll try to stay calm." He stared at the black haired boy, who hesitantly nodded and motioned him to carry on with his hands. "Well, so, remember how I told you that you were in a car accident, and you told me you didn't drive?"

Nico muttered an affirmative response.

"Well, you do, or _did_, drive, I'm not even sure anymore, but as a result of the crash, you hit your head and you lost your memory." The boy lying down was about to protest against this, but Will continued. "You've apparently lost circa six years of memory, so you're placing yourself six years in the past, you're not twenty and turning twenty one, you're twenty seven, which you just turned a month ago."

Nico's eyes widened with every word Will's mouth produced, his breathing became uneven and he raised his palm for the blond to stop. "Is all of this true?" His words were interrupted by his rapid intakes of air, Will got alarmed and knew this happened every time Nico was about to have a panic attack.

"Nico, I need you to sit," Will stood up and tried to take the boy's hand on his own, but it was just swatted away by the now upset boy.

"Don't touch me." Each word was fulminant, Will's heart ached, "Answer my question." His voice was still interrupted by his panicked breathing, his chest rising and falling fast and unevenly.

"Nico, I-" he was cut off by Nico yelling at him.

"Just answer me dammit!" A tear fell from one of Nico's eyes, which hurt Will harshly, he didn't like to see his baby cry, he would've given anything to not have this happen ever again, he couldn't stand the sight but he had to apparent that the scene in front of him didn't move him at all.

"Yes," He stated devoid of any emotion on his voice "it's true, now I'll have to ask you not to make any other question for the time being, this subject is really delicate and it's better if you take it slow." He kept a perfect composure that he wasn't sure he could keep for much longer.

"Wait, no, but I need to know more, you can't just tell me this and expect me to just be cool with you telling me stuff little by little, who even are you to decide how much I can, or can't know?" His tone was hectic and his talk was rushed, Will could feel he was becoming really anxious at the situation, but on the most part he was taking the news well, too well even.

"I'm your doctor and I'm afraid I'm well aware of how many information I can give you before you have a panic attack or, God forbid, a heart attack due to what I tell you." He was suddenly scared for his boy; he was scared that by saying the wrong thing he could send him over the edge.

"What the hell is it that you can't tell me? Did I kill someone? Or?" Nico kept on pressing and Will just wanted to pour everything out to stop all this inside him from weighing him down.

"I told you we wouldn't talk about it right now." Saying this he exited the room, he could hear Nico cursing and talking to himself, but he chose not to pay any attention, he hated to act this way but there was no other choice.

He walked into the cafeteria, and spotted Lee sitting alone in a corner, he joined him, sitting in the chair in front of him.

Lee asked him how it went, Will just shrugged and told him he did as much as he could allow himself to do, Lee looked confused for a moment but after looking at his mate's pained expression, he understood what was going on.

"I hate to say this, but you really need to be careful with saying stuff." Lee's tone was careful, like he was testing the water of a pool with a toe to see if he could swim on it.

"I _do_ know, that's why I'm feeling so conflicted," Will's tone was stern, he didn't really feel like talking about it but he pushed himself to, he didn't want to turn it into a taboo, "but, hell, what if I talk too much? What if I'm the one to cause him something?" His insides wrenched at the idea, he couldn't allow himself anything of the like, ever.

"Listen, you know Nico better than anyone else, you've been married forever so if anyone would know what's too much or not, that's you," He sipped his coffee and coughed, "so don't you worry, you just need to know you have to be careful and you'll say the right things." He then excused himself and went outside for a smoke, leaving Will alone sitting in the corner of the soundless cafeteria, no one else was there to comfort him, no one else was there, willing to tell him everything would be alright.

But, would it? He was scared to think towards the future, it was so uncertain and anything could happen, his fears could become true as much as they couldn't. He preferred to think this was a test life put upon him to know how strong he was, but he wasn't sure he could keep it together forever, he was afraid he'd go mad if this never changed, he was scared of never being remembered.

The clock's mechanic ticking sound boomed all over the room, piercing Will's ears, tick, tock, tick and tock, it was so late already. He suddenly felt so alone, even though Lee was just outside and Nico was in his room two floors up, he felt so terribly lonely, he no longer had someone to spend the days with, there was no one waiting home at night, there was no one that could keep him company in his sleep, he might have lost this someone forever, the one who could say 'I love you' and make it feel like velvet, the one who could smile and make it feel like a caress, the one whose kiss felt like heaven.

He could see the trees outside shaking at a slow pace, the wind gushed playfully outside but all he could feel was cold. His head started throbbing and his eyes felt sore, he knew he needed to go back home to get some rest but he didn't want to leave.

Lee came back inside and sat in front of Will, he complained about the cold and windy weather, the wind started to shake the trees more. Neither of both talked, stares were exchanged, but the silence reigned. Will's head kept throbbing, his eyes kept hurting, his body started aching and he just wanted to cry, the urge came unexpectedly and he just rested his head on his arms, his eyes against the sleeves of his sweater, which were now taking the sorrow from his eyes.

"You should go home," he breathed in deeply to stop himself from crying more and looked up, "I'll stay with him and look after him until you're here tomorrow." The blond nodded and said goodbye, then made his way to his car.

The engine roared and he was in the road, his vision was blurry and the cars flashed by his side like multicoloured lightning, his head was spinning and he started to lose control of what he was doing, he realised it hadn't been a good idea to drive at that time too late.


End file.
